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Smith leads Oilers past Hurricanes

Dec 7, 2006 - 5:32 AM EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- Captain Jason Smith showed his Edmonton Oilers teammates how to win at home.

Smith snapped a tie late in the second period as the Oilers posted a 3-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in the first meeting between the clubs since the Stanley Cup Finals.

Brad Winchester scored the game's first goal and Fernando Pisani added an insurance tally early in the third session for Edmonton, which snapped a three-game home losing streak.

"I was really happy with the game tonight," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said. "Coaches don't often say that, but we played a really good, intelligent game and looked dangerous offensively. I thought our defense played really well tonight. We didn't give them much through the neutral zone."

Craig Adams forged a 1-1 tie with nine minutes left in the second period. After receiving a pass from Eric Belanger in front of the net, Adams redirected the puck between the pads of goaltender Jussi Markkanen.

"It's nice to score goals, but it certainly would have been nicer to come away with two points," Adams said.

With just one minute remaining in the session, Raffi Torres won a key faceoff near Carolina's net. While falling, Torres pushed the puck out to Smith, who wound up and blasted a shot between the legs of netminder Cam Ward to give Edmonton a 2-1 advantage.

"(Torres) did a great job, and that's something that's really important, and we've been doing that all year," Smith said. "It's important because when you win faceoffs, you can create offense."

In the final session, Pisani - who was lurking on the doorstep - wristed a rebound over the stick of a diving Ward at 1:44 to double the Oilers' lead.

"They were opportunistic on their goals," Hurricanes captain Rod Brind'Amour said. "They got a goal at the end of the second and at the start of the third, and I think that was the turning point, those five minutes."

Markkanen finished with 28 saves - including 10 in the third - for the Oilers, who have allowed just one goal in their last two games.

"I felt fine and it was a good hockey game for the fans," Markkanen said. "We really played hard and we took the open-ice game away, and our forecheck was pretty good. I think right from the first minute, we forechecked well, and that was the key today."

"I don't think we created enough opportunities," Hurricanes defenseman Mike Commodore said. "They played well, but we got a few more scoring chances, and the ones we got, (Markkanen) made the save. I don't think we created as much and weren't working as hard."

Ward had 21 saves for Carolina, which has lost three of its last four road contests.